Qualifier Mickawy Defeats Gilis to Win Ukrainian Cup

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Egyptian qualifier Zeina Farid Mickawy claimed her maiden PSA World Tour title after recovering from a game down to beat Belgian number seven seed Tinne Gilis in the final of the Harrow Ukrainian Squash Cup 3, PSA W5 tournament held in Kiev – the day before her 18th birthday.

World No.155 Mickawy was appearing in her second PSA World Tour final after reaching the same stage on the previous Ukrainian Cup tournament back in July, while Gilis, the younger sister of World No.44 Nele, was making her final debut.

Mickawy had been impressive in the build up to final, with a memorable victory over pre-tournament title favourite Milou van der Heijden in the last eight, while Gilis had dispatched second seed Sina Wall in the quarter-final, before staging a superb comeback from two games down to beat Egypt’s Menna Nasser in the last four.

The World No.100 continued where she left off against Nasser to go a game up against Mickawy, but the momentum soon shifted as the teenager fought her way back into contention to take the next two games without reply, with the third game going to a tie-break.

Mickawy then kept up the assault in the fourth and final game to record a 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 victory to ensure that she celebrated her birthday in style.

Result – Final: Harrow Ukrainian Squash Cup 3 2016
[Q] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt [7] Tinne Gilis (BEL) 3-1: 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5